Coronavirus Act 2020

32 Deaths in custody from natural illness: Northern Ireland

(1) Subsection (2) applies if—

(a) an inquest is required to be held in pursuance of section 39(2) of the 1953 Act (death of a prisoner), and

(b) it appears to the coroner that the death was caused by natural illness.

(2) The coroner need not comply with the requirement in section 18(1) of the 1959 Act; and, accordingly, the coroner may proceed to hold or continue to hold the inquest without a jury.

(3) But if in any case to which subsection (2) applies it appears to the coroner, either before or in the course of an inquest begun without a jury, that it is desirable to summon a jury, the coroner may proceed to cause a jury to be summoned as if it were being summoned in accordance with section 18(1) of the 1959 Act.

(4) Section 13(2) of the 1959 Act has effect in relation to an inquest held without a jury in reliance on subsection (2) as if for the words from “Where more than” to “all the deaths so resulting” there were substituted “Where more than one inquest is required to be held in pursuance of section 39(2) of the 1953 Act and it appears to the coroner that all of the deaths were caused by natural illness and that one inquest ought to be held into them all,”.

(5) In this section—

• “the 1953 Act” means the Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953 (c. 18 (N.I.));

• “the 1959 Act” means the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959 (c. 15 (N.I.)).